The Sheriff’s Department in California’s Orange County is ending its contract with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to hold illegal migrants in jail.
The Orange County decision comes amid a rapid rise in demand for mental health services, including counseling and hospital care for Californian criminals, according to a press statement.
The change means that illegal migrants caught by DHS will be transferred to other prison space that is being rented to DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by states and local jurisdictions around the nation.
But the decision comes as progressives are pressuring jurisdictions to give up the valuable contracts and also pressuring banks to stop providing loans to companies who wish to build jails for DHS contracts.
The campaign is one of many efforts by progressives to constrict enforcement of immigration law despite the popular support for enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws.
The sheriff’s department says the decision was made to free up space for the mental health treatment of its California prisoners.
#OCSDPIO: OCSD announces changes to jail operations to increase custody mental health services pic.twitter.com/BCKGLAJ6Cl
— OC Sheriff, CA (@OCSheriff) March 27, 2019
KABC reported:
Over the last five years, the county has seen a 40-percent spike in mental health cases. Some of the services will include counseling, medication management and psychiatric inpatient care.
The county will also be expanding the number of beds available.
Once the contract is formally terminated, ICE has 120 days to relocate its detainees who are currently in the custody of the sheriff’s department.
Nationwide, DHS keeps around 50,000 in detention while it processes them for court hearings or deportations.
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